Method of and means for charging electric furnaces.



PATENTED JULY- 16, 1907.

W. H. HUFFMAN. Y METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR CHARGING ELECTRIC FURNACES.

APPLICATION FILED PBB.15,1907.

Qwihwooeo UNITED sTA rEs PATENT OFFICE. i

WILLIAM H. HUFF MAN, OF NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO INTERNATIONAL AOHESON GRAPHITE COMPANY, NEW .IERSEY.

OE NIAGARA. FALLS, NEW YORK, A CORPORATIOHOF METHOD'OF AND MEANS non CHARGING nnnc'rnrc nununoss.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed Pebrusry lfi, 1907. Serial 367,565.

"racemes July 1e,'1oo7."

To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. HUFFMAN, a citizen of the United States, and residing at Niagara Falls, Niagara county, New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of and Means for Charging Electric Furnaces, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a method of and meansjor charging electric furnaces and has for its object to provide a new and useful means and method whereby electric furnaces maybe quickly and effectively charged, and the unloading of the furnaces is facilitated, and to these ends my invention consists in the various features'of construction and mode of operation substantially as hereinafter more particularly set forth.

Referring to the drawings wherein I have illustrated the means whereby the method of charging furnaces is carried out-Figure 1 is a transverse cross section of a charged or loaded electric furnace embodying my invontion; Fig. 2 is a plan View of the same; and Fig. 3 is a detailed view indicating the relative positions of the different parts during one period of charging the iurnace. i i I In the manufacture of graphite, siloxicon and materials similarly manuiactured by use of an electric furnace of the Acheson type, there has been some difliculty in properly and effectively charging the furnace so that the raw material or material to be treated .can he properly separated from the surrounding or embedding material, so that the heat of electric current can be thoroughly distributed throughout the mass of the material to be treated and be utilized in the most effective manner, and so that at the end of the operation there shall be a clear plane of demarcation between the converted material and the surrounding or embedding material, whereby the unloading of the furnace is fdcilitated. It is well known that in furnaces of this general type electric currents of high volume are used and a large amount of material is treated at each run of the furnace. The current is passed through the raw material or material to be treated or to be converted into graphite or other desired product, and theheat o1 the'current is transmitted and radiates or penetrates more or less into the surrounding or embedding material where it is less effective in producing the results desired. It is desirable that this heat should be concentrated as far as possible,

so as to act mainly upon the raw material-to be treated orconverted, and not be expended in heating the em-- bedding material. It is also desirable that there should be a clear planeof demarcation between the material treated or converted and the surrounding or embedding material, as this greatly facilitates the unloading of the l'urnace and separation-oi the treated or converted. ma-

terial from the surrounding or 'embeclding'xnateriah It is to aid and accomplish these and other rsulte so that the furnacemay be used in the most economicalwa and, very perfect results beproduced, ,that 'xny' inven- T tion is made. w 7 .While, of'cours, the generalfeaturesofmy'inventionv 5 may be'used in many and various furnaces, and in {iii-,- Q ferent ways, varying according a the of; masts and results desired, I have illustrated it sensed in 0911 nection with a graphite making electric -furnace'oi the, Acheson type. i L' v 'Referriug to the. drawings, the iurnacecompnses bed A which. is of some heat resisting matbrial, as brick, concrete, and 'the likfe and -inour'ited upon setti gs tudinal edges this'ba's are the outer walls B B, and these may be made of-fire brick or other material, and one or more of them is usually a temporary capable of easily being withdrawn or removed when'th'e' furnace is to be emptied or discharged. The ends Go} the furnace are usually of a more permanent character 7 and of fire resisting material, and serve to s'upport electrodesll In charging .the furnace, it is usual toflirst supply a quantity of the surrounding or embedding materialor mixture E, and in Fig. 3 at E I have indicatdthe first step in charging the furnace with the. embedding ture. The material marked EIinFig. Bis a-partofthe. embedding mixture E and is the same'inkind as the balance and I have used this separate refereneelettersimply for convenience indcscribing thc'p'ar t' of the mixture which is placed in the furnace before the ma terial to be treated and the separating walls areaddedi 81) The material F to be treated should occupy a greater or less extent of the longitudinal central portion of the furnace extending between the electrodes at the'tw'o ends, and the size of this body of raw material depends of course uponits nature, the strength ofthe "electric current and other considerations. Difii'culty has arisen however in properly and accurately disposing of this raw material in the center of the massof surrounding material and in relation to the electro des, and'espe; cially has it been difii'cult to provide clearjplanelof demarcation between the two materialsj fead efforts have been'inade with greater orlesssuccessjtoaccomplish thispurpose. With my improved methodj and means., I' provide longitudinal walls extending preferablyihrughout the length of the furnace betweenftliefe walls are so placed as to form a channelor'receptacle for the material being treated T-'l hus inthe drawing'I have shown these longitudinal walls of the furnace comprising rigid plates G G of sheetiro n, wood, or

other rigid material, inside or outside ,of.. which I These stakes or upports may be of different material,

such, for instance, as NmwLl, and may bereinoved after iccomplishing the purposes, or may be allowed to remain in the furnace during the operation thereof, al-

though preferably they are removed. So too, the rigid alls or plates G are preferably removed after the furnace is charged, and while the flexible walls may also he removed, I find it preferable to allow them to'remain during the run of the furnace, even though they be consumed or destroyed by the heat of the furnace.

Having thus arranged these internal longitudinal walls of the furnace, the raw material F to'be converted can readily be filled into the channel between' the walls and the surrounding or embedding material E .can be placed around the outside of the walls. The rigid walls, flexible walls, and stakes, any or all, can then be withdrawn if desired, and the material to be treated be covered with a portion of the surrounding material E. In this way I am enabled to provide a clear plane of demarcation between the raw material being treated and the surrounding or embedding material. Sometimesit i desirable to provide a core I of a material of rela tively high conductivity extending between the e1octrodes D and through the longitudinal center of the mass oi' raw material, and by the use of my invention this can readily be accomplished and this so-called two witnesses.

. the mass of raw material in accordance with the curthis plane of demarcationin charging the hu'nace, entitis also of advantage in discharging the furnace. so that when, after the run, the surrounding or embedding mal terial is removed, to a greater orless extent in unloading the furnace, the converted "aterial will be found in a clearly defined mass readil soarable lrom the embedding material. v

In the illustration I have only shown the use of side walls, but it will readily be understood that a top and even a bottom wall may beused when desired, although in practice I find that these are not as essential as are the side walls in accomplishing the purposes oi my invention.

What I claim is: l

1. The method substantially as horeiiihetore' described of charging electric furnaces, which consists in depositing the raw material to be treated between flexible-and rigid Walls, surrounding the raw material and walls with a mixture having a relatively low conductive capacity,

' and withdrawing the rigid'walls.

The method substantially herelnbeforo desei ed of charging electric furnaces, which consists in depo... lag the raw material to be treated hetween lil 'ihie and rigid walls, surrounding the raw material and wallsi lvith a mixture having a relatively low conductive capacity, and withdrawing the flexible and rip: walls.

fl. As a means for charging electric fln'naces, flexible and rigid wallsseparating the raw material to be treated from the surrounding embedding mixture.

4. As a means for charging electric furnaces, flexible and rigid walls forming a receptacle and separating the raw material who treated from the surrounding and embedding mixture, and means for temporarily supporting the walls. T I

As a means for charging electric furnacesfseparating walls composed of paper and metal sheets or plates formlug; a receptacle for the raw material. to e treated and separating it from the surrounding embedding mixture.

In testlmonywhereof I after my signature lnpresence ot' WILLIAM H. HUFFMAN.

Witnesses:

W. A. Slli lll, FRANK N. Con. 

